In the last two days, first Chrysler and then GM announced collaborations with NASA. Despite occurring so closely together, the two automakers’ announcements are unrelated.

Chrysler’s is an information-sharing pursuit dedicated to advancing technological inroads in “areas of mutual interest” that include materials engineering, robotics, radar, battery tech, and “other energy storage mediums.” Considering the International Space Station has covered nearly 2 billion miles in its 12 years of service, maybe there’s a chance that Chrysler stands to learn some lessons about longevity, too. The partnership will last three years.

GM already has something to show for its mission with NASA. Robonaut 2, or R2 to his drinking buddies, is a humanoid robot that will be onboard a Discovery flight to the space station in September. Shown above gettin’ his swell on and here reciting Shakespeare—we kid, he doesn’t actually speak, although we hear that Robonaut 2 Derivative 2 will be able to communicate through a series of clicks, whirs, and beeps—R2 has a head, torso, arms and hands like a human. But he has no legs. Sorry, buddy.

R2 is going to space so that NASA can study the effects of weightlessness on robots, and astronauts will also monitor how the radiation and electromagnetic interference aboard the station affect him. With human-like arms and hands, R2 will be capable of using the same tools as his human counterparts, although human emotion eludes him—for the time being. [dun dun dun]

GM’s humanoid won’t be the first robot on the space station. The Canadian Space Agency has already deployed a pair of robotic arms on the exterior of the station that handle many tasks previously performed by spacewalking astronauts. R2 will be unable to assist the Canadian bot, though, as he hasn’t been engineered to withstand the extreme temperatures of space.

If team-ups between a space agency and automakers seem a little bizarre, you might be surprised to know that this actually isn’t Chrysler’s first joint project with NASA. The Pentastar built Redstone rockets for the Mercury Project in the early ’60s and booster rockets for Apollo spacecraft. Besides, spare engineering expertise is never a bad thing to have laying around—note Lotus and its many projects for other companies. In addition to Chrysler’s stated goals, GM expects to apply lessons from R2’s vision, motion, and sensor technologies to improve its manufacturing processes. And that’s not to mention the kick-ass ad campaign a company can no doubt derive from a known cooperation with NASA.